Make a Move: Another poor attempt at making a dance movie [Review]

By Olamide Jasanya

The past few years have seen Nigerian film makers attempting to tell dance stories via the movies and while a lot of them failed woefully, a few others managed to come close, but none have really hit the mark and leave a lasting impression.

So when I saw the trailer for Ivie Okujaye’s new movie, Make a Move, I had high hopes, but it turned out the same way others have,  an attempt, not the ‘it’.

Directed by Niyi Akinmolayan, the movie tells the story of Osas, played by Okujaiye, whose love for dance is an escape route from her many problems. It features Tina Mba, Wale Adebayo, Beverly Naya, with appearances from Majid Michel, Denrele Edun and singers, 2face Idibia and Omawumi.

Story

The story lacked depth. I expected more, especially because there have been other dance movies without a tangible theme. Sadly, I doubt if Make a Move had one because if it did, it was not well illustrated. The story was basic and dwelt too much on one character, with no sub-plot to cater for people who longed for twists and turns.‎

There also weren’t as many dance scenes as there ought to have been to make the tag ‎‘dance movie’ appropriate. Instead, it was more of action and dialogue without enough dance excitement to cheer the audience.

Acting

 If Lupita Nyong’O won an Oscar for going topless to receive lashes in 12 Years a Slave then Ivie Okujaye may have earned herself a nomination for attempting the same in the movie’s second scene. Okujaye laid on her chest, bare backed, revealing the wounds inflicted on her.‎

The casting was well done, which resulted in close-to-brilliant performances, although a few scenes had some of the actors delivering below expectations. One of such was Osas’ inability to show real emotion, a fault I will attribute to the director.

Helga Sosthenes, was a fantastic actress. She pulled her weight and delivered superbly despite being a newbie. I wish I could say same of Chuma played by Enor Ekpeyong. Another person who shone was Tu face, whose one scene in this movie beats all of his previous acting performances, because he was a lot more believable and didn’t have to speak so much in English.

Tina Mba and Wale Adebayo were a good pair and blended well, but Beverly Naya wasn’t at her best, perhaps because of the role she played, which isn’t really an excuse.

Cinematography, Lighting and Sound

Both the cinematography and sound deserve a thumbs up, particularly the scenes where Osas and Chuma were seated on the balcony of a very high building, and a prison scene. These two stood out for me. However, the audition scene was horribly done. It was supposed to be the high point of the movie but was poorly lit. Neither the light nor the camera did enough justice to the dance moves presented. The energy, sweat, strength and attitude expected of such scenes were lost.

Costume and make up

Aside from the bruises and wounds carved on Osas’ back, there wasn’t anything extraordinary about the costume and make up, perhaps because the script didn’t call for such.

Directing

Akinmolayan may have learnt his lesson from the heavy criticism his 2010 sci-fi movie, Kajola fetched him, so he took a rather realistic approach with this movie and it turned out well, with some new and unusual camera shots which ultimately paid off. His attention to detail must also be commended.

 Sadly, he didn’t do well at evoking emotions from the characters, especially the lead, neither did he pay enough attention to continuity. Surprisingly, he isn’t different from most Nollywood directors who think only major actors should be well cast, which explains why all the waka pass actors added nothing to their scenes.‎

Verdict: 2/5